A Conditional Discharge No Longer Bars You From Entry into Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) 

A Prior Use of the Conditional Discharge Program for Marijuana is No Longer a Bar to Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) 

On February 14, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court Ruled that individuals who utilized the conditional discharge program for marijuana were eligible for future diversionary programs.   

What is a Conditional Discharge? 

A Conditional Discharge is a municipal court diversionary program.  This program allows individuals charged with a first offense disorderly persons drug offense to forgo prosecution.  Upon successful completion of this program, the charges against a defendant are dismissed.  However, the program requires following the terms imposed by the court and probation, which can include random drug testing, no new criminal charges, and scheduled check ins with a probation officer.  

Generally, defendants are only entitled to one diversionary program in their lifetime. 

What is Pre-Trial Intervention? 

Pre-Trial Intervention is a superior court diversionary program.  It allows first time offenders with no criminal history to forgo prosecution.  Upon completion of Pre-Trial Intervention, the charges against defendants are dismissed.  Like the Conditional Discharge program, defendants who enter the program must abide by the terms and conditions set by the court and their probation officer.    

Like the conditional discharge program, defendants can only utilize Pre-Trial Intervention if they have never completed a prior diversionary program.  

What Changed? 

In 2021, the New Jersey State legislature legalized possession of marijuana.  This has had profound effects on the New Jersey legal system. Beyond just legalizing a previous controlled dangerous substance, the legislature further determined that all marijuana convictions should be automatically expunged.  These expungements also included individuals placed in a diversionary program for a marijuana-related offense.  

However, even though these marijuana involved offenses were expunged as a matter of law by the legislature, the bill legalizing marijuana was silent as to whether an individual who had previously utilized a conditional discharge for marijuana would be able to further utilize diversionary programs. Therefore, there was a question as to whether or not defendants could enter PTI after having utilized a conditional discharge for marijuana. Until recently, county prosecutors were denying defendants access to the PTI program if they had previously utilized the conditional discharge program for a marijuana charge.   

That all changed with the recent Supreme Court ruling of State v. Gomes.  On February 14, 2023, the Court in Gomes ruled that the legislature, in legalizing marijuana, intended to provide a clean slate for those with previous marijuana convictions.  It found that even though the language of the bill legalizing marijuana did not mention prior marijuana conditional discharges, that the legislative intent was to eliminate any negative consequences for a prior marijuana offense.  It found that since prior marijuana offenses were deemed to no longer exist as a matter of law, defendants who utilized a prior marijuana conditional discharge should not be prohibited from entering Pre-Trial Intervention in the future.  As such, it carved out a narrow exception to the general rule that defendants are only entitled to one diversionary program.  In the limited cases in which a defendant had previously used the conditional discharge program for a marijuana related offense, they would not be barred from applying for Pre-Trial Intervention. 

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